]]>auDA, the regulatory body that oversees domains in Australia, has spent the start of 2018 holding public forums to gather feedback in relation to the upcoming rollout of .au domains. This has caused quite a reaction in the e-commerce space with fears that the change would cause sites to lose traffic and risk losing their brand to squatters. A major issue is the time and money businesses may have to spend in order to retain the value of their domain name once the top level .au domain is introduced.

SEO expert Jim Stewart, CEO of StewArt Media, attended the public hearing in early February and believes that “the problems are many and the benefits are very, very slim.” In fact, when asked by Power Retail to name any benefits related to the roll out, he couldn’t.

“We’ve been told by auDA that there is a demand, but there is no data to support this,” says Stewart. “In other countries it hasn’t worked. In New Zealand it hasn’t been taken up. In the UK they were giving away .uk for free to encourage take-up.”

So if there is no demand, what are the risks? “What it will do is devalue your existing assets,” Stewart told Power Retail. “A government organisation or another business may end up with your brand. There will be increased competition in search with more similar domains. Even if a retailer gets the .au domain, using it will see a big drop in search traffic for a while. If not implemented correctly, they’ll lose all their traffic.”

It’s the element of uncertainly and confusion that has retailers worried. “People are confused about what the eligibility will be. If you registered an Australian domain name since April 2016, you will not automatically be eligible to get the .au domain name. You will have to go into the pool with everyone else who is trying to get that domain,” he said. This confusion, increased competition and lack of fair process is why Stewart believes this will negatively impact Australian retailers and businesses.

“This whole process has damaged the .com.au brand. One of the very things auDA’s job is to protect. I will not be registering any more .com.au domains and I will be telling my clients the same,” he says. “If you registered a .com.au after April 2016 you may want to look at moving away from it altogether as you probably won’t get the .au unless you pay a hefty sum to cybersquatters,” Stewart told Power Retail.

The proposed registration of .au domains appears to raise more questions than solve any problems. For example, who should be entitled to the .au domain name when there is a brand.com.au and brand.net.au already registered, which auDA reports applies to approximately 3% of domain names? The solution floated at the forum to this and other instances of contested domains appears to be a lottery system. Again, this leads to more uncertainty.

In response to concerns raised, auDA has told Power Retail:

“The implementation of direct registration (being able to register ‘yourname.au’) is being explored by the 2017 Policy Review Panel, an independent advisory body reporting to auDA’s board.

It needs to be emphasised that no decisions on implementation have been made and the Policy Review Panel is still developing its recommendations. The panel encourages feedback from all stakeholders on this issue, and the other issues raised in the recent Registrant Policy Issues paper, to ensure the best outcome for the entire Australian Internet Community.

The auDA Board will carefully consider 2017 Policy Review Panel’s recommended implementation model, and may decide to implement in part or full the recommended model.

auDA is committed to a multi-stakeholder model for developing policies for the .au domain. In 2016 the auDA Board accepted the recommendation of the 2015 Names Policy Panel to implement direct registration.

The Names Policy Panel’s final report was put together after 10 months of panel member deliberations and two rounds of public consultation with feedback from a wide range of stakeholder groups including individuals, businesses and auDA members.

In addition to the public consultations by the Panel, auDA’s Board also commissioned independent market research, which showed 60% of respondents were likely or highly likely to register “yourname.au” if it was available.

The benefits of direct registrations include shorter, more memorable domain names, more choice for registrants, increased utility of the .au namespace and ensuring the .au brand remains competitive in the global market.”

The next meeting about this will be held on 16 March 2018.

Were you at the public forum earlier this month? What are your thoughts on the potential roll out of direct registration?

]]>Temple & Webster Group Ltd CEO Mark Coulter and CFO Mark Tayler today announced the half year results for the year ending December 2017. Most notable, was an 84 percent improvement in net losses. The Group reported a loss (after tax and EBITDA) of $890,000 compared to $5,383,000 for the same period last year. This bottom line improvement has been driven by margin growth and cost base initiatives. “The comforting fact of our turnaround journey is that our vision and strategy has not changed since day one,” says Coulter. “Our vision is still to make the world more beautiful, one room at a time.”

While the Group reported a revenue growth from $34 million in first half of FY17 to just $34.4 million in FY18, this was masked by the Milan Direct consolidation in December 2016. The first like-for-like comparative period was 1 January to 15 February 2018, where an impressive 21 percent revenue growth was reported. This validates the growth rate estimate provided in October 2017 which normalised for the Milan Direct consolidation. The Group is on track to reach profitability in the 2018 calendar year with the 2019 financial year being the Group’s first full year of profit.

Highlights

The Group significantly reduced its operating costs from $19.2 million in first half of FY17 to $16 million in the first half of FY18. This marks a 17 percent reduction in costs year on year.

Temple & Webster reported that it is still the online market leader, with over 1.1 million website users per month and 175,000 active customers.

First half FY18 was cash flow positive, with closing cash of $8.8 million

Phase One Complete

“Phase one of the turnaround is now complete, and the hard work that has been done during this phase has set the business up well for growth. We have now entered phase two of the journey, and while we are still focused on reaching profitability with an existing cash reserve, our focus is increasingly turning to growth,” Coulter says.

What this actually means is that cash flow is stabilised, margins and cost base are improved, the go-to-market strategy has been simplified and a platform for growth has been established. Phase two which is now in place, focuses on reaching profitability within existing cash reserves, the growth of the core business and testing future growth plays such as show rooms, commercial trade and click-and-collect. With this is mind, Temple & Webster announced it is on track for 2019 to be a full year of profitability.

2018 was about innovating and streamlining for the Group. Web and mobile checkout was redesigned, navigation structure was simplified, the private label range was expanded, proprietary lifestyle images for key products were added, the Temple & Webster showroom was launched, on-site search was improved, afterpay and zipPay were added to payment options, ‘save to favourites’ functionality was relaunched, delivery times were reduced nationwide, and click-and-collect was launched for Melbourne customers.

Increases in gross margins have been driven predominantly by the private label product range which continues to track at -20 percent of sales with margins significantly higher year on year. This is related to better terms with suppliers and better buying decisions, resulting in less clearance activity. Another large factor in improved results are that wages are 17 percent lower for the half year on year as a result of the benefits of offshore operations and Milan Direct integration. Increased efficiency from the single brand strategy also means that marketing costs are down by 13 percent and distribution costs are 15 percent lower due to reduced warehousing storage costs.

Millennial Mileage

Temple & Webster now has a renewed focus on Millennials who have grown up buying fashion and media online, and who are more than comfortable purchasing in the online space. As a generation, they are now (hypothetically) reaching the homewares and furniture buying cycle of their lives, meaning that this demographic will drive strong market growth for years to come.

Future Growth

Temple & Webster’s plan to grow its market leaderships is to expand its private label offering, leverage scale, increase brand awareness through digital and non-digital channels, innovate through apps, image search and personalisation, expand click-and-collect and introduce its own van trials to solve the bulky delivery pain points for customers. There will also be a focus on free design help for all customers including chat, in-store and augmented reality.

The plan is also to maintain and grow its market leadership, accelerate investment into the trade and commercial division, continue to investigate offline opportunities, add further adjacent categories and test new business lines (expanding on the current Pets and DIY offering) and trial the New Zealand market which will represent the first step towards global expansion.

]]>Over the last five months Super Retail Group (SRG) has been assessing the opportunity to acquire New Zealand based Macpac Holdings and overnight entered into an agreement to acquire the business for AU $135 million.

Super Retail Group, which also owns Rebel, BCF and Supercheap Auto, says it plans to consolidate the Rays and Macpac businesses under the Macpac brand. This will involve integrating 54 Macpac stores across Australia and New Zealand, with the Group’s CEO Peter Birtles saying there is significant opportunity to grow the business in the near future through growing its digital and commercial channels.

SRG, which suffered a three percent fall in first-half profit to $72.2 million, says its acquisition of Macpac Holdings will be funded from its existing debt facilities with the deal expected to be completed by 31st March.

Birtles says that the acquisition of Macpac and the acceleration of the adventure outdoors retailing strategy is consistent with the Group’s strategy of “providing solutions and engaging experiences that inspire its customers to enjoy their leisure time”.

“The Macpac business has performed extremely well over recent years, yet there remains a significant opportunity to grow the business in the near future through opening new stores and growing its digital and commercial channels. The heritage of the business and the quality of its products are assets that have not yet been fully leveraged, and we believe there is an opportunity to develop an experience for customers that brings these assets to the fore.”

SRG says the integration of the business with Rays provides an opportunity to position Macpac as the leading outdoor adventure specialist across Australia and New Zealand and provide a broader range of products, information and services to consumers.

“Super Retail Group will be able to leverage its capabilities in supply chain, marketing, procurement and retail operations to add value to Macpac, while Macpac’s capabilities in design and apparel sourcing will add value to BCF and Rebel,” says Birtles.

Small format stores focusing on apparel with limited footwear, equipment and accessories. It is intended that goods sold will predominantly be Macpac branded;

Large format stores retailing an extensive range of apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories under the Macpac brand and major global brands providing a complete solution for the adventure outdoors customer; and

Commercial channel.

The Group expects to incur transaction costs of around AU $4 million to complete the acquisition.

Macpac, which was founded in 1973 selling hiking packs in Christchurch, today operates as a vertically integrated retailer operating 54 stores. The company is expected to generate sales of circa NZ $95 million in the fiscal year to 31st March 2018.

Kathmandu runs a network of 164 stores across Australia and New Zealand as well as its online retail business. In FY17 Kathmandu reported a profit rise of 13.5 percent and strong sales of $406 million which it attributes to innovative products and inspiring digital content; E-commerce represented 7.5 percent of total sales.

The highlights were also reflected in its 2017 full-year financial performance, with 15 percent direct-to-consumer sales growth and eight percent net revenue growth (or seven percent excluding the favourable US $11 million currency translation). The company attributes its strongest performance in over a decade to strengthening its digital channels, as well as the expansion of its retail network.

While larger US companies like Gap,Walmart and Target have gained market share from Levi in the casual pants category, Levi is determined to stay at the forefront of its patented riveted jeans, pants collections and men’s and women’s fashion.

Since bringing Chip Bergh, Levis president and chief executive officer to the helm in 2011, his challenge to attract new customers and regain Levi’s leadership position has seen big changes within the company, including new investments, a new management team, a new strategy (with innovation at the heart of attracting new customers) and paying more attention to the internet by offering a more sophisticated online shopping experience.

In the last year, Levi has made a concerted effort to step up its digital game. The iconic jeans label launched shoppable video over the 2017 holiday season, and earlier in the year it unveiled its new AI powered chatbot, Virtual Stylist, which converses with shoppers to offer them jeans recommendations based on their style preferences and fit, further bringing the brand to life online.

These digital innovations were part of Levi Strauss & Co.’s larger push to invest in its e-commerce business and new technologies to improve the consumer shopping experience and, ultimately, drive online sales. And, this has certainly paid off for the retail brand.

“Our growth and momentum accelerated in Q4 capping the strongest revenue year the company has had in more than a decade,” said Bergh earlier this week. “Our strategies are working and the investments that we’ve made to diversify our business over the past few years are paying off, best demonstrated by the strength of the Levi’s brand globally.”

]]>Retail group Hanes Australasia says the all-cash transaction to acquire Bras N Things is valued at $500 million on an enterprise-value basis which it expects to complete in mid-February 2018. The purchase price is approximately 10 times 2017 EBITDA and is expected to be less than eight times EBITDA after supply chain and revenue synergies.

The key attractor for Hanes Australasia to acquire Bras N Things was the retailer’s solid brand and market position in the underwear market, according to the retail group’s president and managing director, David Bortolussi. “We have acquired Bras N Things primarily for its strong brand and market position in the attractive intimate apparel category, providing both category and channel diversification to our business.”

Bortolussi also says that the other key to its purchasing decision was due to Bras N Things’ “high quality” management team, “impressive sales and earnings growth over recent years” and a “great strategic and cultural fit” with the Hanes group. “We look forward to investing in and continuing that growth. It’s exciting to have a retailer of this size and calibre join our group.”

Bras N Things is a leading speciality retailer and online seller of intimate apparel in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with a retail network of approximately 170 stores and a rapidly growing online business. In 2017, Bras N Things had net sales of approximately A$180 million with a three-year compound annual growth rate of 11 percent. Combined, Hanes says it will hold the number one market position in bras and the number one market position in underwear in Australia.

It is understood the current CEO and management team of Bras N Things will continue to lead the business from its existing premises in Sydney, with Hanes confirming it will aim for limited impact on the organisation and its 1,400 employees.

Bras N Things CEO George Warby says that the deal would enable the retailer to further advance its growth and to scale up. “Bras N Things and Hanes have many similarities including shared values and a focus on style, comfort and quality. Hanes has made it clear that they intend to work with the Bras N Things team to support and invest in delivering the company’s growth strategy, providing an opportunity to leverage Hanes’ scale and capability.”

About Bras N Things

Established in 1987, Bras N Things is one of Australia’s leading fashion intimates retailer with a strong online retail presence and approximately 170 stores across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It’s owned by private investment firm BB Retail Capital Pty Limited (BBRC) and other associated parties.

Bras N Things offers a wide range of women’s undergarments and related products including lingerie, sleepwear, playwear, swimwear, activewear, maternity, shapewear and only sells its own brands through vertically integrated operations. Designed by women for women, fit, comfort and design are at its core and the in-house design team based in Alexandria, Sydney are specialists in creating lingerie exclusive to Bras N Things.

About Hanes Australiasia

North Carolina based Hanes, owns several underwear and activewear apparel labels across in the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia-Pacific, including some world’s largest apparel brands, including Hanes, Champion, Maidenform, DIM, Bali, Playtex, Bonds, JMS/Just My Size, Nur Die/Nur Der, L’eggs, Lovable, Wonderbra, Berlei, Alternative and Gear for Sports. The company sells T-shirts, bras, underwear, shapewear, socks, hosiery, and activewear produced in the company’s low-cost global supply chain. A member of the S&P 500 stock index, Hanes has approximately 68,000 employees in more than 40 countries and is ranked number 448 on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies by sales. Hanes is listed on the NYSE under the code NYSE:HBI.

Locally, Hanes Australasia is home to some of Australia’s most recognised apparel and lifestyle brands including Bonds, Berlei and Sheridan. Hanes Australasia brands are sold via our wholesale partners and our retail network. Hanes Australasia previously operated as Pacific Brands and was acquired by Hanes in July 2016.

]]>Tencent-owned WeChat Pay, one of China’s major mobile payment services, will now be available to expats living in China and residents living in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao – areas where the mobile wallet is determined to expand its user base. In addition, WeChat Pay users can now link or activate their accounts with credit cards issued by Visa, Mastercard and Japanese network JCB.

As China increasingly becomes a cashless society, Tencent says that this is the first time users are able to use WeChat Pay without having a Chinese bank account or credit card.

Mobile payment platforms like Alibaba’sAlipay and WeChat Pay are increasingly becoming embedded in China’s everyday life and daily consumption needs like online shopping, buying tickets, paying for services, food delivery, bicycle rentals and hotel bookings to name a few.

Released in 2013, WeChat Pay has now expanded to 25 countries globally, servicing the large number of Chinese tourists that travel abroad. “WeChat is initially a social app,” Grace Yin, director of WeChat Pay cross-border Operation at Tencent told Technode recently. “If (local users) don’t have experience using WeChat, then we cannot ask them to establish WeChat payment,” she said.

Australia is a popular destination for Chinese tourists and students and it was one of the first offshore markets WeChat Pay targeted. In 2016, Chinese tourists spent A$9.2 billion in Australia, and WeChat Pay expects this figure to grow to A$13 billion by 2020.

This marks the first opportunity for non-Chinese residents to use WeChat Pay and to link their credit cards to it, which could have two impacts, according to Business Insider :

Grow WeChat Pay’s volume significantly

Although a major mobile wallet player in China, WeChat Pay still trails behind China’s other dominant mobile payment app, Alipay. The new offering, however, could add a major boost to WeChat Pay’s volume of payment users, who until now were only able to use the app for its other services, but can now load their payment information onto it. This could help it drastically grow its market share and gain on Alipay’s dominance.

Improve its relationship between card networks and digital wallets

Historically, card issuers have been frustrated by mobile wallets like WeChat Pay as most of the payments came directly from users’ bank accounts, limiting their access to what is increasingly taking market share from China’s payment ecosystem. With users now being able to link and activate their WeChat Pay accounts to their credit cards, this may improve relations between mobile wallets and credit card issuers.

Over 64% of foreign expats in China used WeChat Pay for their daily needs in 2016, according to a data report released by Tencent in 2017, marking a significant change in consumer behaviour where users no longer need to leave their house with their wallets on them. All they need is their mobile device.

]]>Two weeks ago, Taobao posted a job advertisement to recruit “senior experience officers”, a role that will be responsible for providing feedback about senior citizens’ experiences of using its new version of the Taobao app.

According to Alibaba’s statistics, about 30 million Taobao and Tmall users are aged over 50, with more than 75 percent of them aged between 50-59, and nearly 20 percent of them aged between 60-69. In 2017, Chinese people aged over 50 spent an average of nearly RMB5,000 shopping online, buying an average of 44 products. Offering a better service to them will unleash China’s substantial potential in the silver economy.

Among them, 83-year-old Mrs. Li claimed that she buys almost everything on Taobao, while 71-year-old square-dancer Mr. Zhang said he used to buy spicy noodles from Sichuan when he first moved to the southern city of Hangzhou, until he was introduced to Taobao, where he can find everything he needs. He is now, in turn, introducing the platform to his fellow dancers.

The new elderly-focused app is the latest move in Taobao’s continued efforts to engage users of all ages and provide a personalised experience for the members of China’s aging population who are keen to participate in the digital economy and stay connected.

Alibaba says simplicity is the key feature of the elderly-friendly Taobao app. It provides easy access to Taobao’s most popular functions for seniors, including Tmall Supermarket, live-streaming programs and customised shopping recommendations. An enlarged interface and shortcuts on the app are just some of the design elements that cater to its target users.

When opening the app, potential senior users will be given the option to choose the new version, register an account with their mobile number and link the account to that of their children.

The new version will enable elderly parents to connect with their children without needing to navigate complex procedures. Their children’s profile image will appear on every interface of the app. By simply clicking the image, parents are able to initiate a chat or voice call with their children, share product links and make purchase decisions together. The children can then choose to pay for the products that their parents have selected.

“By launching this simple and user-friendly option for the Taobao app, we will make online shopping easier for our senior citizens and help them stay connected with the younger generation and the community,” says Ding Jian, senior product manager at Taobao, who heads the development of this new channel.

The Taobao app is a leading mobile commerce app in the world with 468 million monthly active users in May 2017. The company confirms that on average, each active user launches the app 7.8 times a day.

]]>Once major disruptors in fast fashion retail, companies like Zara and H&M have been uncharacteristically slow to catch up with e-commerce while a new wave of online fashion players like ASOS,Amazon and Boohoo have arisen leaving them in its wake. But, with its new e-commerce focused pop-up store and upcoming new tech-enabled flagship store in London, Zara is looking to make headway in its digital sales strength.

Last week Inditex Group-owned Zara unveiled its nearly 200 square metre online-only pop-up store in London’s Westfield Stratford shopping centre while the brand refurbishes and extends its full-line store in the same mall.

The pop-up has been created to support the fast fashion chain’s e-commerce channel, staffed with associates equipped with mobile devices that assist with online orders, which if placed before 2pm can be delivered to customers’ homes on the same or the next day. Payments are also made easier thanks to an innovative card terminal system operated via Bluetooth. The store will also facilitate returns and exchanges.

The shop runs similar to Bonobos’ guideshops and Nordstrom’sinventory-free store concepts where shoppers can walk in, try on, touch and inspect merchandise up close, view the brand’s assortment of styles, get recommendations and styling help, pay for their goods but then leave empty handed – their items are then delivered to their front door.

Among other innovations, this pop-up store will also feature a product recommendation system based on information screens embedded into mirrors, according to the company. Once customers scan an item using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, the system can bring up, in the right size, multiple choices for coordinating and combining the item they are trying on with other garments and accessories.

While Zara’s pop-up store will only be temporary, the idea seems to be a more permanent one. Its new 4,500 square meter store that is being built in the same shopping centre will be its first location to offer four sections – men’s, women’s and children’s zones, with the fourth space dedicated for customers collecting online orders, keeping with the company’s online-offline integration strategy.

The new store will feature an automated online order collection point serviced by two small warehouses which will enable shoppers to pick up purchases made on www.zara.com whenever it suits them. This system is designed around an optical barcode reader which scans the QR code or accepts the PIN codes received by customers when they place orders online. In just a few seconds, it delivers the order to a mailbox from which the customer can collect it. Behind the scenes, a dynamic robot moves through a small warehouse with the capacity to handle 2,400 packages simultaneously.

Zara says all this new technology is oriented towards creating a unique shopping experience in which the latest developments make fashion trends stand out even more. Store customers will be able to pay using their mobile phones, via either the Zara app or the Inditex Group app, InWallet, and there will also be a self-checkout area to complement the regular cashier desks, which will speed up the payment process. This system will automatically identify the garments being purchased so that customers only have to confirm their items on a screen before using their card or mobiles to pay for them. Then they can choose to print out their receipts or store them automatically in their mobile handsets.

Zara says its new online-offline integrated tech-enabled flagship store also attempts to further enhance the in-store shopping experience by adding new customer services. The store will incorporate enhanced interior design features to complement the shopping experience, like the glass façade on the second floor equipped with a number of sensors which will project images from its current collections onto the glass when shoppers approach it. In keeping with Inditex’s eco-efficient store programme, the Stratford Zara store will also be equipped with smart systems for reducing emissions and saving energy.

]]>Gifts Australia is an online gift store that has been delivering an easy and reliable gift-giving service for nearly two decades. Established in 2000 and purchased by entrepreneur, Emily McWaters in 2012, Gifts Australia now operates as a successful arm of the SOL Group. The Australian-owned SOL Group, is one of Australia’s leading online gifting companies with a multimillion-dollar turnover, which also owns and operates three other successful gifting brands, The Hamper Emporium, Everything But Flowers and Men’s Gifts Store. The SOL Group was founded by Emily McWaters and David Morgan in 2014, and is operated by McWaters and 20 plus full-time staff, including her two sisters Amy and Libby McWaters. It’s a small, close-knit familial team and the website is practically exploding with their personal touch.
Emily Mcwaters featured with her sisters Amy (left) and Libby

As e-commerce competition has increased over the past few years, so too has the customer expectation of service and product range. The team behind Gifts Australia has responded to these increasing customer expectations by focusing on enhancing and simplifying online shopping for their customers. Since purchasing the Gifts Australia brand in 2012, McWaters and her team have made significant improvements to the websites user experience and they have increased and expanded the available product range, shipping options, dispatch and delivery timeframes.

Expanding on the expected categories such as kids, men’s, and ladies, Gifts Australia has further refined their shopping options by price range, occasion, novelty, and even age group should customers wish. Gifts Australia has curated each available subcategory to ensure that even customers who are tasked with shopping for the most difficult to buy for, distant relation, will be able to find them the perfect gift. Each customer’s shopping experience is tailored through the use of product recommendations as well as the use of Live Sales tracking; recommending recently purchased products to customers while they browse. Gifts Australia also includes a Live Chat function where customers can ask for product assistance via Zendesk as well as humorous and engaging category and product descriptions. Navigate to the ‘For Her, Beauty’ page for example, where located below the endless rows of gift options, you will find an explanation on why beauty products were first used, why women will adore being gifted these particular beauty items and a tip to not forget the power of words. “Women love the small details that set you apart from the rest. Trust the power of words and make sure you include a personalised card to your present.”

The manta repeated throughout the Gifts Australia website, “there’s something perfect for every occasion and every gift recipient” is supported by their huge range and product recommendations. There are currently between 900-1200 gift lines available via Gifts Australia, with all items displayed on the website in stock, warehoused and shipped from the companies Regents Park warehouse location. The notable exception to which is their range of flower products that the company currently has outsourced to maintain freshness and quality.

Gifts Australia has also transformed their shipping process to enable customers to elect to send gifts to multiple people and locations within the one transaction. The shopping cart is now configured to allow customers to isolate products in their cart and request separate delivery addresses, gift-wrapping and card options for each item simply and easily.

Maintaining customer satisfaction and expectations is key to the Gifts Australia business strategy and all orders are shipped within 24 business hours of the order being placed, or as per customers’ instructions. While international shipping is not offered, postage is free on all orders over $99.00 and products are posted Australia wide, with next day delivery offered to all major cities. Gifts Australia may not have the monopoly on online gift shopping, however, the work they are doing to ensure finding the perfect gift for any occasion is easy and can be finished with a bow on delivery, makes them a definite front-runner in customer satisfaction.

]]>Manhattan Associates, Inc. has announced an innovative solution that gives retailers new insight into individual shopping experiences to provide exceptional, personalised service. Part of the Manhattan Active Omni platform, Manhattan Customer Engagement is the first product to connect customer conversations on social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, with real-time order information to give associates a complete and accurate picture of each customer’s buying journey.

Digitally-savvy consumers are demanding a more personalised shopping experience from retailers. “Nearly 90% of organisations say they are focused on personalising customer experiences, yet only 40% of shoppers say that information they get from retailers is relevant to their tastes and interests,” according to Brendan Witcher, principal analyst at Forrester Research as reported in The Wall Street Journal.[1]

Manhattan Customer Engagement is the first solution that combines unstructured data from customer conversations with structured order information to allow retailers to make instant service improvements. This single, comprehensive view of the customer eliminates multiple applications and simplifies the process of analysing each customer’s buying journey. Customer Engagement works seamlessly with Enterprise Order Management to predict and identify potential issues and automatically create cases to correct them before they become problems.

“When it comes to defining the optimal service experience, every customer comes with a different set of needs and desires,” said Eddie Capel, president and chief executive officer of Manhattan Associates. “By being the first to connect order and customer data, Manhattan’s new Customer Engagement solution delivers the industry’s only actionable insight into the what, why, and how of omnichannel shopping so that retailers can truly personalise and optimise the entire buyer journey.”

Manhattan Associates designs, builds and delivers leading-edge cloud and on-premises solutions so that across the store, through your network or from your fulfilment centre, you are ready to reap the rewards of the omnichannel marketplace. For more information, please visit www.manh.com.